ROSIE BARRON IS THE TIDY COO

Rosie Barron is The Tidy Coo, a Professional Organiser and Declutter Coach. A Master KonMari Consultant and member of APDO (the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers). Rosie lives in Aberdeenshire with her husband, 4 Home Educated children, and a whole menagerie of animals which all Spark Joy.

“I’m overwhelmed by paperwork and can’t face starting.” One thing that you can do to cut down on the amount of mental energy that you use in these situations is to make rules.

For example, you could say, “Any receipts that are over seven years old, I will let go.”

“Any paperwork from courses that I did and have not looked at since, can go.”

“Paperwork relating to my old job (that I left 15 years ago!) can go.”

“All duplicates can go.”

The rules you create will depend on your unique circumstances but having them in place makes it all that bit easier.

“Help! What do I do with lightly worn clothes? I can’t get to my wardrobe because I have too many of them in the way!” It is as well to have a designated spot for clothes that you’ve worn once and aren’t quite clean enough to put away, but are too clean to need washing. This prevents a floordrobe from taking over your room.

I have a hook in my wardrobe that they are hung off, but other suggestions are that they could be hung at one end of the wardrobe, on the back of the bedroom door, or my father used to have a special stand that was meant for a jacket but could easily be used for lightly worn clothes. You could also have a designated drawer or shelf to fold them on to. The actual spot you decide to put them is not that important, it’s having a spot that is important.

“I’ve recently bought an ottoman bed and I want to make the most efficient use of the storage that I can – what should I do?” Don’t be in a rush to fill the space under the bed, always remember that decluttering is better than organisation, but sometimes there is nothing quite like having a new space to fill!

Bedding is the most obvious use of the storage under the bed, or off season clothes if you are the sort of person who changes your wardrobe over. Vacuum packing is good under here because it is surprising how dusty it gets and also as it’s not well ventilated, things can get smelly, but remember to label the packs as it’s easy to forget what is in them.

It is also a good place to hide presents that you don’t want to be found! But don’t forget that they are there.

My own bed is lifted off the floor and has nothing underneath it except a small basket either side that serves as a nightstand.

“What do you do when individual items Spark Joy, but the number of them doesn’t?” In this situation, start with your vision. Look at your home in your mind’s eye and see what is in it when you have “finished” as this may help with letting go of some of the items.

Beyond this, I have two practical suggestions to help. The first is to decide on the number of things that you think are necessary. For example, if you are doing sheets, work out how many you need for your home, then put the sheets in order of preference, count down to the number necessary and let go of the rest. This works quite well for practical things.

The second is “How much space am I willing to give over to store this?” and this one works better with items that aren’t so practical as sheets, for example books or ornaments. For example, I have a set of shelving that I use for my ornaments (pictured). I can keep whichever ornaments I want so long as they fit neatly on the shelves. If I have too many ornaments for the shelves, then I have to choose which ones I like best to keep. It is up to you how much space you are willing to give over to each type of item – I have several bookshelves full of books, but some of my clients chose to have only a shelf. The point is that once you have dedicated an area, to stick to it.

“I have a craft room and it’s always such a mess, how can I keep it tidy?” Start with your vision. What is it that you would like the room to look like, how would you like to be able to use it?

Audit your supplies. I get a LOT of pushback from crafters at the suggestion that they might like to let anything go, so I suggest an Audit instead. Go through all of your supplies and see what it is that you have and think truthfully about whether or not you will use it. Are you hanging on to stuff that you bought that you will never use? Would it be better to let it go to someone who will use it? You may be surprised how much you let go if you handle everything.

Store in categories – the actual storage solution you come up with will depend on the amount you keep and your budget, but keep like with like. Don’t get hung up on fancy solutions, boxes that you already have may well be the best thing to use. Make sure that you label them well though, and possibly stick a photo on the front of the box so that you can easily see what is in it.

Do you have an organising or decluttering question for me? Either email me at rosie@ thetidycoo.com, or email Lifestyle and they will forward it to me to be answered in another edition (anonymity is guaranteed).

Rosie Barron is The Tidy Coo, an award winning Declutter Coach and Professional Organiser, Scotland’s only master and APDO’s most northernmost member. She lives in Aberdeenshire with her husband and four children and a huge menagerie of animals who all bring joy.